Health Recovery Solutions, a technology company that allows doctors to monitor patients with chronic diseases, said it has raised $10 million in a funding round led by Edison Partners.

Founded in 2012, the Hoboken-based firm has been used by nearly 100,000 patients at about 150 health systems and 20 payers in 39 states. The service can be used to deal with 70 diseases, but the most commonly used modules are for diabetes and heart failure, said Jarrett Bauer, the company's co-founder and CEO.

Northwell Health, Hackensack Alliance Accountable Care Organization, and Valley Health System are among the company's local clients.

Hospitals have an increased incentive to prevent patients from returning to the hospital because of Medicare's financial penalties for readmissions, Bauer said.

"They're looking for programs to engage patients," he said.

The company provides patients with devices to track their blood oxygen level, blood pressure, weight and body temperature as well as a tablet with informational videos on how to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle. They are also instructed to report when they take medications. The data is sent to their care team.

Health Recovery Solutions' software can also be used to facilitate video conferencing with clinicians.

The $10 million is Health Recovery Solutions' first funding from a large investment firm. It brings its fundraising total to about $15 million, including previous money from angel investors. The founders also have spent their own money to build the company.

Bauer, a former health care consultant at McBee Associates, co-founded the company as a student in Johns Hopkins University's MBA program. His grandmother had been readmitted to the hospital while suffering from heart failure.

"I thought, There should be a way to engage patients in their chronic disease self-management," he said.

The company had $6.3 million in revenue last year, according to Inc.'s 5,000 fastest-growing companies list. Clients pay an implementation fee and also pay per software license per month.

Bauer said the company will use the money to accelerate product development and hire new product managers and developers as well as client success managers. Health Recovery Solutions has 80 employees and plans to double its headcount in the next year.

"This enables us to get more of a national presence," Bauer said. "Instead of people seeking us out, we can seek them out." —Jonathan LaMantia

Opioid crisis cost Long Island $8.2B in 2017

The opioid crisis caused $8.2 billion in damage to businesses on Long Island in 2017, according to a report by the Fiscal Policy Institute.

The costs associated with premature deaths, lost productivity and medical spending related to the use of opioids represented 4.5% of Long Island's gross domestic product that year. The cost of opioid-related fatalities was estimated at $6.9 billion, which reflects the loss of work they might have performed or purchases they might have made.

Business also lose out due to lower worker productivity and higher medical costs.

The findings are a clear sign that companies should be involved in identifying a solution to opioid addiction, said Jonas Shaende, chief economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute, which has offices in Manhattan and Latham.

"It is very important that businesses understand that it's really bad for business to have this crisis and not be part of the solution," he said.

The report was funded by the Long Island Community Foundation and the Claire Friedlander Family Foundation. The analysis will be presented today at an event with Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone in Hauppauge.

In Suffolk County, the private-sector health care costs associated with opioids were $117 million in 2017; the lost productivity cost was pegged at $136 million. In Nassau County, the numbers were $55 million and $64 million, respectively.

There were 617 opioid-overdose deaths on the island in 2017, a 77% increase from 2013. Suffolk ranked second among all New York counties in the rate of opioid deaths, while Nassau ranked 18th among the 62 counties.

The researchers used a methodology adopted by the White House's Council of Economic Advisers to estimate the economic cost of the crisis.

The report does not suggest any specific policy solutions but notes that lawmakers should consider unintended consequences. For example, illicit drug use became more common after restrictions were placed on prescribing painkillers.

"It costs us to have this crisis and do nothing about it," Shaende said. —J.L.

North Shore to offer more gender-confirmation surgeries

Northwell Health's North Shore University Hospital on Tuesday said that it has begun offering genital gender-confirmation surgery for members of the transgender, gender-nonconforming and nonbinary community. It said it is the first hospital on Long Island to do so.

Specifically, the surgical team at North Shore has performed vaginoplasty for transgender women. North Shore also expects to offer surgical procedures to create male genitalia for transgender men.

Genital gender-confirmation surgeries are complicated procedures, and patients don't want to have to travel far from home for the procedures or follow-up care, said Dr. David Whitehead, who performs the surgeries. All forms of insurance, including Medicaid, are accepted.

North Shore said the new surgical capabilities expand the roster of services that Northwell offers at Long Island's Center for Transgender Care and at the Gerald J. Friedman Transgender Program for Health and Wellness at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. Other available surgical procedures include facial feminization, vocal surgery and breast augmentation as well as chest masculinization, orchiectomy and hysterectomy.

It's important for Northwell and North Shore to offer the full spectrum of gender-affirming care to patients, Whitehead said. —Jennifer Henderson

Hunter banks $3M to study adolescent suicide risk

Hunter College said on Tuesday that it has received a $3 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to identify factors that increase the risk of suicide attempts in adolescents.

Researchers plan to recruit 200 12- to 17-year-olds with suicidal ideation from emergency departments and outpatient clinics. The public hospitals participating in recruitment are New York City Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and H+H/Metropolitan in Manhattan as well as H+H/Lincoln in the Bronx.

Those who agree to participate will be followed for a year. The study will take four years overall and factor in the brain and behavior, including clinical measures, the mobile assessment of thoughts and feelings, and sleep monitoring.

Researchers expect that a significant portion of participants will be Latina, a group often recognized as at greater risk of suicide attempts but underrepresented in studies.

"We hope that the current project is one step toward developing a more comprehensive cognitive model of adolescent suicide risk," said Regina Miranda, professor of psychology and one of the study's two investigators.

The funding represents the National Institute of Mental Health's prioritizing of research into suicide risk, she said. The findings are expected to improve risk assessment and intervention.

"Looking at teens from this broad perspective allows us to take research on the risks for suicide to a new level, with the prospects of identifying risks earlier, preventing suicide attempts and strengthening teens' resilience and mental well-being," added Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, professor of psychology and the other study investigator, in a statement. "While this is not an intervention study, we hope our findings will help shape future interventional techniques." —J.H.

AT A GLANCE

MEASLES OUTBREAK: Mayor Bill de Blasio and Health Commissioner Dr. OxirisBarbot on Tuesday said that the measles public health emergency declared in April for parts of Brooklyn has ended. Measles outbreaks are usually declared over, the city Health Department said, when two incubation periods of 42 days have passed since the last infectious day of the last persons with measles. The health department said it spendt more than $6 million responding to the outbreak.

WHO'S NEWS: Dr. Amanda Parsons has joined NYC Health + Hospitals' MetroPlus as deputy chief medical officer. She previously was vice president of community and population health at Montefiore and earlier in her career was a deputy commissioner at the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

SUNY College of Optometry's University Eye Center said that Dr. Deborah Amster has officially joined as the chief of pediatric service to head the implementation of the new Center for Pediatric Eye Care. The center is expected to open early next year. Amster joins SUNY Optometry after 16 years of teaching and conducting research at Nova Southeastern University's College of Optometry.

PRIVATE EQUITY: Private equity firms are flooding into health care with orthopedic, GI and urology practices among the specialties attracting money. Specialists with ancillary revenue from testing and ambulatory surgery have become attractive targets for investment, Modern Healthcare reported.

MEDICAL DEBT: Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has proposed a plan to eliminate $81 billion in consumers' medical debt. He has not yet released a plan to finance the proposal, Reuters reported.

CORRECTIONAL HEALTH: NYC Health + Hospitals has created an initiative, Point of Reentry and Transition, to improve access and continuity of care for patients discharged from city jails. The program is a collaboration between H+H's Correctional Health Services, its Office of Ambulatory Care and its Bellevue and Kings County hospital campuses, which will serve as the sites for primary care. Since taking over correctional health services, H+H offers discharge planning to people with complex medical conditions, such as HIV and hepatitis C, substance use disorders and those who are 55 and older.

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